


It's not your fault you were born to shit parents

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Absent Parents, Accidental Bonding, Billy Hargrove Is Bad at Feelings, Billy Hargrove Lives, Billy Hargrove Tries to Be a Better Person, Child Neglect, Developing Friendships, Enemies to Friends, Gen, Good Friend Robin Buckley, Meet the Family, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Steve Harrington-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22763533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: When Steve arrived at his childhood home with a gaggle of children in tow, he had expected the place to be empty. He also hadn't expected to have a heart-to-heart with Billy Hargrove by the pool over a couple of drinks the next day either, but one thing that Steve had learned over the past few years, was to always keep on your toes because you never know what Hawkins could throw at you next.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove & Steve Harrington
Comments: 2
Kudos: 78





	It's not your fault you were born to shit parents

**Author's Note:**

> Woah, this fic was a long time coming, and I started writing it so long ago that I don't even remember where it was supposed to go, but I like how it ended up, and I hope that you do too. Thanks for reading, I'm glad you enjoy it xx

When Steve arrived at his childhood home with a gaggle of children in tow, he had expected the place to be empty.

Instead, the lights shone brightly through the open windows, when Steve knew he had turned them off and drawn the blinds over the windows. There were subtle movement and low voices from inside when Steve knew he was home alone. El gave him a curious look and raised her hand towards the door. Steve shook his head and reached out to lower her hand. "No, not yet. It might just be some stupid kids trying to play a prank."

He reached out to jiggle the handle and was surprised to find it unlocked. He always locked the door before he left. Slowly, Steve turned the handle and pushed his way inside, with his modified baseball bat hanging by his side, El close behind him just in case.

The last thing Steve expected to see when he entered his home was his parents shuffling around the kitchen in fuzzy slippers with their many suitcases scattered about the room. Steve stopped so quickly that the kids following him into the house ran into him and piled up behind him. Lucas looked around El and Max to take the baseball bat from Steve’s hands before his parents could see it and passed it down the line to Dustin who threw it into the bushes.

"Mum? Dad?" Steve exclaimed once he got over his shock. "What are you doing back so soon? I thought you weren't supposed to be back for a couple of months?"

His dad turned to look at him with a frown. "And we thought you'd be home at this time of night and keep the house clean while we were gone, but I suppose we were wrong about that too."

Mrs Harrington nudged her elbow into her husband’s ribs as she walked forward. "Well, Stevie, our flight was cancelled and delayed until tomorrow morning so we decided to make the journey and spend the night here instead of at the airport."

Mr Harrington raised his eyebrows at Steve. "That's not going to be a problem, is it son?"

"What- no, no problem," no longer worried about his parents thinking that anything was fishy now that the bat was hidden, he moved aside so his parents could see all the children clustered together in a tight, protective huddle. "These are, um, the kids I've been babysitting. They were just going to call their parents to come and pick them up now that they've all finished work and stuff."

"Of course," Mrs Harrington seemed to relax once Steve gave a reason as to why he was home so late and with a bunch of children in tow, and began to lead them to where their landline hung. "Do you kids know your parent’s landlines? It's right this way."

The party made polite conversation with her despite the fact that they had never met her and they thankfully had the sense not to mention that they already knew exactly where the phone was. Steve thought he saw Max hanging back in the hallway, but it was too dark to be sure. 

But then Steve was left alone with his father and he felt himself subconsciously straightening up in his father's presence. "How's Scoops Ahoy treating you?" Mr Harrington broke the silence as he folded his jacket over the back of a chair, sounding disinterested. 

"I don't work at Scoops anymore. The whole team was let go when the mall was destroyed." Steve said, not surprised that his dad had forgotten about his new job and Starcourt being obliterated. And Steve nearly dying. "I work at Family Video now."

"Family Video?" Mr Harrington scoffed like it was a blight on the family's name. "Why the hell would you go and get a job at that joint?"

"It was the only place that would hire me on such short notice."

Mr Harrington shook his head and Steve felt himself cringe inwardly. "Your job prospects are getting lower and lower. The next thing you'll work at will probably end up being a volunteer job or something just as bad. How much do you get paid to babysit these kids?"

Steve felt backed into a corner. “I uh, I volunteer for that, dad.”

“Oh, Christ almighty,” Mr Harrington dropped his head to his hands. “My sons become a pushover. You’ve gotten soft since you were overthrown as the coolest kid in Hawkins.”

“Dad, I like looking after the kids,” Steve said, feeling uncomfortable now. “It’s fine.”

“Why don’t you have any friends your own age?”

“Have you _met_ the kids my age?” Steve snorted. “They’re all losers, dropouts, bullies or worse.”

“But you’d rather hang out with a bunch of _kids_ than hang out with a few unsavoury teenagers?”

“Yeah dad, I do,” Steve said.

Sighing, Me Harrington shook his head again. He seemed to do that a lot when he was around Steve. “Thank god for that Nancy girl for helping you with your studies. Without her, you wouldn’t have a hope in hell getting into college.”

Steve wanted to scream in frustration- every conversation with his father always ended up being about college, no matter what it started out as. “Dad, I’m not _going_ to college.”

Mr Harrington looked as though he were about to say something, but at that moment, running feet echoed from halfway down the hall and suddenly Max was sprinting at Steve and wrapping her arms tightly around his torso. “Billy’s on his way,” she beamed up at him.

“Uh- that’s great, Max,” Steve replied, somewhat confused.

Max turned her disarming smile to his father. Steve knew her pretty well and had been with her through good and bad, and Steve knew that she was laying the charm on thick with his dad. “Steve’s great,” she explained, arms still wrapped around him. “He does a good job of keeping us safe. We give him a run for his money sometimes, but that’s what makes it fun. Trouble seems to follow us though, but Steve does a pretty good job of keeping us away from all of that.”

Mrs Harrington entered then with the rest of the kids following behind her. Having heard the tail end of the conversation, she sent Steve a sympathetic look. “At least you’re pretty, Stevie.”

El narrowed her eyes at the back of her head, but Steve caught her line of sight and he subtly shook his head. She looked disappointed but ultimately relented, albeit reluctantly. Max caught on to this little exchange and interrupted before anyone else could notice. “Are you still going to Robin’s?” she asked Steve.

Steve frowned at her. “Robin’s?”

“Yeah, remember?” Max prompted, laughing like it was obvious. “You two made plans. You were going to wait for our parents to pick us up, then you were going to pack your things and head over to her place for a sleepover. She’s expecting you.”

Max was many things, and a convincing liar was one of them. Even Steve was momentarily swept away in the lie. “Oh, right. I almost forgot.”

“Who is this… Robin?” His mum tried, hopeful. “A girlfriend, maybe?”

At the same time, Steve snorted and the other kids laughed as if his mother had just said the stupidest thing in the world. He enjoyed the embarrassed blush that rose to her cheeks. “No, just a friend. I’ve told you about her before. We used to work at Scoops together, and now we’re co-workers at Family Video, but she’s just my best friend. That’s all.”

Mr Harrington frowned at Steve throughout his whole explanation. “So your parents are only in town for one night and you’re choosing to spend it babysitting a bunch of children and sleeping over at some woman’s house, who isn’t even your girlfriend?”

All Steve could do was shrug. “I already made plans. If you had told me that you were going to be home tonight, it would have been different.”

Honestly, Steve didn’t have any plans to sleep over at Robin’s, that was a lie that Max had made up and he had run with, but Robin’s parents were nice and he knew that if he arrived at their doorstep unannounced and explained to them what had happened, then not only would they willingly welcome him in with open arms, but Robin would move over and make room in her bed for her favourite gossip buddy.

One by one, familiar cars started to arrive and the number of children in the Harrington household diminished. Steve waited until the last car had pulled away into the darkness, then he bolted to his bedroom and jammed a nights worth of clothes into a carry bag.

His parents were waiting for him when he returned, his father looking disappointed and his mother looking a little sad but ultimately uninterested. “I’m going to go now,” he said awkwardly.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here tonight?” Mr Harrington said, but the way he said it made Steve think that he didn’t really care either way. “Instead of spending the night at your… friends?”

Shrugging, Steve occupied himself with checking the items in his bag. “I promised her I’d come over and I’ve already put it off too many times. Sorry.”

Mrs Harrington walked towards him and put her hands on either side of Steve’s face before she kissed his forehead. “It was so good to see you, Stevie,” his mother smiled. “We’ll see you again in a couple of months.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, suddenly desperate to get as far away as he could. “See you in a couple of months.”

Robin and her parents were more than happy to let Steve stay the night on such short notice, and Robin was more than a little desperate to complain about the rude customers that she got on her shift at Family Video to someone who would understand. Steve woke up early the next morning and watched the sunrise, and caught a glimpse of his parents plane rise from the Hawkins airport and disappear into the clouds, and Steve didn’t doubt that while they were enjoying their champagne and good food in their first-class seating, they had already completely forgotten about Hawkins and the son left behind in it.

He left Robin’s house late in the afternoon, but only because he had to get ready for the party he was throwing that night. Otherwise, he would have stayed there forever. And she would let him.

It wasn’t a real party. Well- it wasn’t a party like any of the things he used to throw. It was just a get together for the kids and their families after such a harrowing year. He’ll, he’d even invited _Billy_ without too much prompting from Max. He chose to throw it at his house for two reasons- his parents weren’t around to say no, and the kids would enjoy the pool.

For the rest of the afternoon, Steve got the house organized and prepared for the guests to arrive.

The sun was close to setting when the first people started to arrive. Joyce and Hopper came in separate cars and Jonathon came with Mike and Nancy so their mum could stay home and look after baby Holly. Dustin and Lucas were dropped off and their parents left them. Billy and Max were the last to arrive, the roar of the Camaro unmistakable.

All night, Steve had felt people’s eyes on him, and when he had turned around, he’d caught Hopper, Joyce, El and Nancy shooting him questioning and sympathetic looks and Steve didn’t need anyone to tell him that the kids had probably told them all what had happened last night with his parents.

When all the staring had become too much, Steve retreated to the solace of the backyard, where the inflatable pool toys were still floating forgotten in the water. He sat on the edge of the pool and stuck his feet in the heated water.

He sat out there alone for a while, splashing his legs in the water when he heard someone come out. At first, he thought it was Hopper or Nancy finally sick of watching him mope around the pool, but instead, an uncapped beer was shoved into his line of sight. “Here. You look like you need it.”

Confused, Steve took the beer instinctively and his eyes caught sight of dark rings clad on scared and brutalized knuckles, and his eyes trailed up the freckled skin of the arm until he reached the familiar face, and was more than a little surprised to see Billy Hargrove in all his California tanned skin and windswept hair and cocky shit-eating grin standing over Steve like he was king of the mountain. “Oh,” was all Steve was able to manage before he was forced to tighten his hold on the slick beer bottle when Billy let go. “Hi…?”

The sound that left Billy's throat almost sounded like a laugh, but Steve knew him a little better than that. But that smile on his face seemed more genuine that one Steve had ever seen in his life. "Hi yourself." He replied lightly as he lowered himself down onto the edge of the pool beside Steve with a grunt. His pants were already rolled up to his calves, so he stuck his feet in the water, and Steve couldn't stop staring at all the thin white scars that crisscrossed his skin like sharks teeth. “What's a hunk like you doing out here all alone on a night like this?”

“Uh,” Steve managed as he watched Billy out of the corner of his eye. He picked his jaw up off the floor and held the beer bottle so tightly that his hand began to shake. “Are you…? Are you flirting with me?”

"Maybe," Billy flashed him a smile with an accompanying wink before turning back towards the bright pool floaties bobbing across the surface of the water in the slight breeze. "Does it matter though? The question still stands."

Steve watched Billy for a few long moments to judge if he was serious or not, but Billy continued to stare straight ahead, and while Billy was being a bit short and very strange, he wasn't being cruel. Steve knew what Billy was like when he was being mean, and this wasn't it at all. A little weird, maybe, but not evil. "Just had a pretty rough day yesterday," Steve took the risk and explained slowly. "Don't really feel like being around anyone today, is all."

Humming, Billy took a drink of his own beer. "I get that," he nodded to the beer in Steve's hand, untouched and held away from his body as though it was poison. "I didn't roofie you if that's what you're worried about. Max thought that you probably would be. I just didn't want you to hurt your delicate little hands trying to take off a cap that needs a bottle opener."

"Oh," Steve had forgotten that he'd been holding it, and he brought it to his lips. When he was satisfied that it wasn't actually poisoned, he took a deeper sip. "Thanks?"

"Don't mention it. And don't sound so surprised," Billy said as he leant over and rested his arms over his knees. "You invited us- me, I guess, so the least I could do is be nice to you for a couple of hours."

The drain gurgled as excess water sloshed into the open mouth. Somewhere else down the street, some other kids were throwing a real party, and a sound like a miniature explosion rocked the neighbourhood, but Steve was used to it by now. "That's not the only reason that you're being strangely nice to me tonight, is it?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve watched Billy shrug. "Max might have told me what happened with your parents the other day. And I might be able to… understand."

"Oh, Jesus," Steve groaned. "I should have known better than to trust a bunch of kids to keep a secret."

"Don't worry man, I get it," Billy chuckled, leading back against his hands on the warm tiles. "Patents suck. Nobody in the history of the planet has had good parents, and if they say that they do, they're lying."

It felt like the world was falling in around him, and all of reality was changing. Billy wasn't looking at him though, so Steve couldn't be sure if he was being genuine or not. "And you would happen to know a little something about that, do you?" It wasn't a question. 

The moment the words left his lips, Steve regretted them because he watched Billy tense and his jaw clench, and he raised his hands in preparation to block a fist to the face or something just as violent, but instead, his eyes fixed on the other end of the pool. “Of course, I do. Everyone does. Hell, probably all those kids you look after do too. You can tell when someone has crappy parents. You can usually see in their eyes. But that’s alright,” he leant over and elbowed Steve in the side, not hard enough to hurt, but just enough for Steve to definitely feel it. “It doesn’t get any better from here, let me tell you.”

Blinking, Steve was reeling. This was not at all how he had expected his day to go, but here he was, sitting on the edge of his pool with Billy Hargrove, sharing a couple of beers, and having a civil conversation. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, you know,” Billy waved his hand about vaguely before dropping it back down to his lap. “So far, they’re only calling you names and putting you down and shitting on your life choices. By this stage, some kids would already be getting their asses handed to them by their old man, or their mother shoving their faces in the mess they made. So either you’re incredibly lucky and hit the jackpot when it comes to shit fucking parents, or they’re just working their way up to the big leagues. You know you’ve made it when you cant start to count the bruises, and start to figure out what mood your old man was in when he made them.”

There were so many things running through Steve’s head. The way Billy spoke about it was detached yet hard, almost like he was trying to keep all emotion out of his words and replaced it with emptiness in order to keep everyone away from it. Like he was speaking from experience. His eyes were hard and his jaw was clenched, and though Steve had a million things that he wanted to say, he decided it was best to hold his tongue this time. Billy wouldn’t look at him, but his hands were clenched together in his lap, and Steve wasn’t the smartest kid on the block as his parents keep saying, but Billy’s scabbed knuckles and permanent scowl he always wore and the scars and bruises that lined his skin made so much more sense now.

But Steve, being as impulsive as he was with a mouth that was bigger than it had any right to be, couldn’t stop himself. “Speaking from experience, hey?”

Surprisingly, Billy didn’t react, and just ignored the comment completely. “You’re pretty lucky. Your parents are never around, so you get to live in your own house instead of driving around looking for something to do. A lot of people wish that they had what you do, me and Max included. How nice is it, living by yourself? Not having to worry about what your parents say or do?”

What a strange concept- people actually wanted to be alone all their lives? “I mean, it’s not all that great,” Steve said. “I still miss them. It’s not as if I can just pretend they don't exist. My mum leaves me a list of things I have to do while they’re gone and if they come back and I haven’t done them, then it wouldn’t be good, and if they drop in like they did last night, then that would be the end of me.”

Picking up the bottle he had placed on the tiles by his side, Billy took a long drag of his beer, probably not his first or his last one, that Steve had completely forgotten that he still had. “What kind of controlling, overbearing assholes would make their adult son do daily chores even when they’re not here? How weird. You shouldn’t miss them. Yeah, sure, they’re your parents and you love them, big whoop, but do you think that they’re missing you? When they got on their plane this morning and took off to whatever their next holiday destinations are, do you think they thought about you? Last night, when they arrived unannounced, do you think they came to visit because they missed their darling son and wanted to see you, or because it was more convenient than staying at the airport?”

Steve didn’t answer, _couldn’t_ answer, because, despite the fact that he would never say it out loud, Billy was _right_ and had just confirmed everything that Steve had been thinking for a very long time. “But…” Steve tried. He turned his head to the house, where Joyce was fixing Will’s shirt buttons and giving Jonathan reviews on the photo’s he showed to her straight from the camera and Hopper was ruffling El’s hair and they all just looked so god damn happy that Steve couldn’t understand how it was normal. “They’re my parents. I have to love them.”

“You don’t _have_ to do anything,” Billy said, following Steve’s line of sight inside the house as Hopper lifted El up into his arms and spun her around once, giggling and squealing, before placing her back onto the ground beside Max and Mike. “Just because they’re your parents doesn’t mean that they deserve your love. You didn’t deserve them being shitty, but you get what you get. You don’t have to love them. It’s obvious that they don’t love you. You choose who deserves your love and if you want my opinion? They don’t.”

Sighing, Steve turned away from the window and returned his attention back to the pool, where the kicking of his feet was sending little waves to the other end. “Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?”

“Well, I mean, you’re the first person to include me or invite me anywhere since…” Billy trailed off, but Steve knew that he was talking about the Mind Flayer and Starcourt. “The least I could do is not drown you in your own pool. And…” he winced. It was a strange, unfamiliar look on him. “Max made me promise not to be violent to any of her friends, at least for tonight, so I had to come out here before I threw Henderson down a flight of stairs. If I heard him talk about Star Wars or Dungeons and Dragons one more fucking time I’m going to rip my ears off.”

That surprised a laugh out of Steve, and it felt so good that it seemed to shake his very soul. “God, I know. I have no idea what they’re talking about most of the time, and I’m the one who has to look after these kids! It’s easier if you smile and nod like you understand what they’re talking about.”

“Really, that’s your solution?” Billy snorted. “I wish that would work for Max. If I have to hear her talk about how amazing you and all your little rugrats are, I’m going to make her walk home in the rain.”

Steve turned fully to look at Billy now, a feat he never would have accomplished before. “You and Max have been getting closer now, haven’t you? Since uh… since the Mind Flayer?”

A dark look came over Billy’s face. It wasn’t a dangerous one, but his eyebrows pulled together and his nose scrunched up, which made his open face seem darker than it probably was, but there was no anger or violence in it. Not yet, anyway. “I wouldn’t say we were _closer_.”

“But we would, wouldn’t we?” Steve persisted. He wasn’t sure why it mattered so much. Maybe he thought that if Billy and Max were getting closer, more like actual siblings than like enemies, than Billy would be nice to the rest of them too, and they could all be friends for the first time. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking. He wasn’t surprised when Billy didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure what else he was expecting. He was honestly shocked that he had managed to get as much as he had out of him, and all of it without being dealt a single hit. A miracle is what it was. “Well, I mean, either way, you’re welcome here whenever you want. Your dad scares me a little bit, so if you ever want to come here to get away from it all, you’re welcome any time.” Honestly, Steve had never met Neil, never even seen him, but he wasn’t going to mention that to Billy any time soon.

Billy turned to him with a cocky smile and a twinkle in his eye, “Don’t worry, _Stevie_ ,” he teased, reaching out a heavy hand and roughly ruffling Steve’s hair until messy strands fell into his eyes. “You’re more than just a pretty face.”

Then he brought the half-empty bottle to his lips, drank the rest of the beer that sloshed around inside it without taking a breath and pulled away with a faint gasp before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and handing the empty beer bottle to Steve, who was so surprised he took it without question. He stood from the edge of the pool, shook the water off, and turned around to return inside, to where Max was calling his name in a fit of laughter.

It had been the most confusing 24 hours of Steve’s life, but somehow, holding two beer bottles, one empty and not belonging to him, watching the waves dance around the pool at Bally's exit, he couldn’t help but feel… optimistic. Sure, maybe his parents were the worst and they didn’t miss him when they went away and they didn’t love him as much as they should, but despite all that, somehow Steve made it out with a new friend, and one he was _determined_ to keep.

Steve stood up from the pool, dried his feet on the mat, and went back inside to join the rest of his friends with a smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy 16th birthday to my brother xx


End file.
